the monday express

"pintu uncle" the voice floated across from somewhere behind me as i commenced my morning walk to my office today. "pintu uncle" and my heart skipped a beat for i knew that when i turned around there'd be rishi smiling broadly from his verandah across the road. that signature mop of hair, the big bright face, and that smile which lights up his whole body, all two plus years of it. i have no idea why he decided my name was henceforth going to be "pintu uncle" but i sure am glad he did for when those words rings out from across the road my world stops. and gently melts :-) what a smile, and what unabashed unhesitant expressiveness. and i begin daydreaming once again about that newspaper notice i've been thinking about - "from henceforth i shall be known as pintu uncle. signed, deepak gupta!" used to be the same with my neighbour gokul's kid - karthik. no he didn't call me pintu uncle but when he smiled he didn't just relax his lips he smiled from the bottom of his toes to the tip of his hair. his whole body was part of his communication, it literally shook with happiness when he was happy. (and probably broke your heart with its silence when he was upset). there was a brief period when he was very happy to see us. what a heart warming smile we'd be greeted with, it just dissolved everything - all our tensions, cribs and pre-occupations. you just wanted to bathe in the sweetness of that moment. and then i remember my nephews were growing up. two specific memories. one when a friend of mine arun (who my entire family was very fond of) was fooling around with the elder one vinay (i think) in front of a mirror and suddenly drew a mustache on vinay's upper lip. it was such a seamless transformation from a happy giggling to a loud wail - when my nephew suddenly saw his mustachioed face in the mirror. no gap, no transition, no thought process, just pure unedited expression! i also remember a nursery rhyme my younger nephew arjun used to recite with great emotion upon a little coaxing (i used to hang him upside down till he recited it :-) "baby baby dont you cly momma making apple pie papa catching buttle fly!" and then one day it was "baby baby dont you cry..." he had grown up, learnt languange. i stopped hanging him upside down after that :-) now hes six feet something, speaks multiple languages, is a jazz musician, an entrepreneur, and does weights (at least once every couple of years!). probably not a good idea trying to hang him upside down again :-) karthik next door now speaks at least three languages fluently - malyalam, tamil, and english. in fact we've heard him begin a sentence in one language, switch to the second, and finish it in the third (in a manner of speaking :-) once again, seamlessly, without any gap or hesitation, instantaneous "code switching" :-) but he smiles differently now :-) rishi's wasn't my only expressive encounter of the morning. there's a golden retriever whose house falls on my path too. its a big house with a big compound and while he can walk free within the premises, there is this compund wall and wire mesh that separate him from the external world. so this is what we do instead. he jumps on the ledge of the wall and sits on one corner and i squeeze my fingers between the mesh holes and pat him or rub his nose or generally express my happiness at seeing him. how blissful he looks, eyes closed, just lapping it all up :-) paisa absolutely vasool for those few moments of stopping by! makes me remember the welcome our dog simba in delhi used to give us when we arrived on our semi annual trips. absolute undiluted emotion! didn't need anybody else's welcome after that :-) or the welcome i saw my cousin soman's cousin's boxer dusty give him on a trip to kochi many years ago - every inch of dusty's body spoke - "i am happy to see you!" it does something to you - such pure expression of joy or sadness. it fills you up, it cleanses you, it liberates you - even if for just a bit. and not a single word need be spoken. and the difference between the dogs and us is that simba remained expressive right to his last days while arjun and vinay (and all of us) we "grow" up. and thats why the thought always comes to me - why do we lose this purity of expression when we grow up, is it necessary, is it inevitable? can we not keep both - the languages of expression, and the expression that transcends language? rishi too will magically add to his vocabulary in the coming years, learn multiple languages too. and he too, probably, will learn to smile differently, and to call me "deepak uncle". i guess all i wanted to tell rishi is, its alright, dont be in a hurry to learn my "real" name. "pintu uncle" sounds just fine to me. and will remain so, for a lifetime if you would so chose :-) for this weeks poetry we turn to one of the purest, and most expressive forms of poetry i have come across - the haikus. the haikus, when they work, are pure expression personified. this week's haikus were mailed to me by my friend bhaani - friend, as i have mentioned before, since she was two (and now on her way to college :-), and a wonderful poet. this is what bhaani had written to me some months ago: Deepak Uncle, Here is the most recent poem that I have written so far. It's actually a compilation of 10 original haikus! They are all about the experience of Japanese-American internees who were forced to remain in American camps during World War Two. Unfair Air Prejudiced treatment – Compassion destroyed amongst Trees of dark and hate Unheard voices cry, Longing to attain freedom. Echoes mixed with mud. River cries the song Of agony and anguish. Rain craves liberty. Tears of innocence Flow into the Sea of Pleas , Asking for one's rights. Wind asks for safety Breeze asks for liberation Intern still not freed Humanity seems To be lost. Love no longer Visible on Earth. United States Of America , listen to Air of salvation Snow and sleet beg for A visit to the Garden Of Empathy now Camps are unjust and Put good people in peril. Heavens want them freed. Face towards the sky. Let the drizzle of dear love Fall on our nation -Bhaani "face towards the sky. let the drizzle of dear love fall on our nation" just beautiful bhaani! may your heart never ever close to what love is telling you, and may your expressions grow stronger and purer still:-) well its lunch time on a monday and my stomach is strongly expressing a particularly familiar emotion :-) time to pay it attention and heres to a week fully lived and fully expressed! much love, d&s